-
Why did the solar nebula flatten into a disk?
- It flattened as a natural consequence of collisions between particles in the nebula, changing
- random motions into more orderly ones.
-
When an electron in an atom goes from a higher energy state to a lower energy state the atom...
emits a photon of a specific frequency.
-
Which planet, other than the earth, has visible water ice on it?
Mars
-
When light reflects off an object, what is the relation between the angle of incidence and the
- angle of reflection?
- angle of incidence = angle of reflection
-
If a material is transparent, then it...
transmits light well.
-
Which of the following is furthest from the Sun?
a comet in the Oort cloud
-
From lowest energy to highest energy, which of the following correctly orders the different
- categories of electromagnetic radiation?
- radio, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X rays, gamma rays
-
Under what circumstances can differentiation occur in a planet?
The planet must have a molten interior.
-
Which is the densest planet in the solar system?
Earth
-
According to our theory of solar system formation, why do all the planets orbit the Sun in the
same direction and in nearly the same plane?
-
The laws of conservation of energy and conservation of angular momentum ensure that
any rotating, collapsing cloud will end up as a spinning disk.
-
Which of the following is not a characteristic of the inner planets?
They all have substantial atmospheres. 2
-
Why does the earth have the strongest magnetic field among the terrestrial worlds?
- It is the only one that has both a partially molten metallic core and reasonably rapid
- rotation.
-
Which of the following worlds has the greatest difference in temperature between its "no
- atmosphere" temperature and its actual temperature?
- Venus
-
How does the Sun's mass compare with that of the planets?
It is a thousand times more massive than all the planets combined.
-
Why does Venus have such a great difference in temperature between its "no atmosphere"
- temperature and its actual temperature?
- It has a large amount of greenhouse gases in its atmosphere.
-
Why does Mercury have such a great change in temperature between its day and night?
It has a slow rotation.
-
From shortest to longest wavelength, which of the following correctly orders the different
- categories of electromagnetic radiation?
- gamma rays, X rays, ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, radio
-
Which planet has the highest average surface temperature, and why?
Venus, because of its dense carbon dioxide atmosphere
-
How are wavelength, frequency, and energy related for photons of light?
Longer wavelength means lower frequency and lower energy.
-
When white light passes through a cool cloud of gas, we see
an absorption line spectrum.
-
Grass (that is healthy) looks green because
it reflects green light and absorbs other colors.
-
Which of the following is not a characteristic of the outer planets?
They have very few, if any, satellites. 3
-
Rank the five terrestrial worlds in order of size from smallest to largest:
Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth.
-
The wavelength of a wave is
the distance between two adjacent peaks of the wave.
-
What percentage of the mass of the solar nebula consisted of elements other than hydrogen and
-
Which of the following statements about X rays and radio waves is not true?
Neither X rays nor radio waves can penetrate the earth's atmosphere.
-
Heat escapes from the planet's surface into space by thermal radiation. Planets radiate almost
- entirely in the wavelength range of the
- infrared.
-
Which describes convection?
- It is the process in which warm material expands and rises while cool material contracts
- and falls.
-
We can learn a lot about the properties of a star by studying its spectrum. All of the following
- statements are true except one. Which one?
- The total amount of light in the spectrum tells us the star's radius.
-
How does the greenhouse effect work?
- Greenhouse gases transmit visible light, allowing it to heat the surface, but then absorb
- infrared light from the earth, trapping the heat near the surface.
-
How do asteroids differ from comets?
Asteroids are rocky bodies and are denser than the comets, which are made of icy material.
-
The planet closest in size to Earth is
Venus. 4
-
Why are the inner planets made of denser materials than the outer planets?
- In the inner part of the nebula only metals and rocks were able to condense because of the
- high temperatures, whereas hydrogen compounds, although more abundant, were only
- able to condense in the cooler outer regions.
-
Which of the following statements about X rays and radio waves is not true?
X rays travel through space faster than radio waves.
-
What percentage of the solar nebula's mass consisted of hydrogen and helium gases?
98 percent
-
Which of the following best describes Pluto in terms of the general characteristics of terrestrial
- and jovian planets?
- size and solid surface similar to terrestrial planets; distance and density similar to jovian
- planets
-
Where did the elements heavier than hydrogen and helium come from?
They were produced inside stars.
-
The lithosphere of a planet is the layer that consists of
the rigid rocky material of the crust and uppermost portion of the mantle.
-
What happened during the accretion phase of the early solar system?
Particles grew by colliding and sticking together.
-
Why did the solar nebula heat up as it collapsed?
- As the cloud shrank, its gravitational potential energy was converted to kinetic energy and
- then into thermal energy.
-
According to the nebular theory, how did the Kuiper belt form?
- It is made of planetesimals that formed beyond Neptune's orbit and never accreted to form 5
- a planet.
-
What are the main constituents of the jovian planets?
hydrogen and helium
-
What is differentiation in planetary geology?
the process by which gravity separates materials according to density
-
If we observe one edge of a planet to be redshifted and the opposite edge to be blueshifted, what
- can we conclude about the planet?
- The planet is rotating.
-
What was the frost line of the solar system?
- the distance from the Sun where temperatures were low enough for hydrogen compounds
- to condense into ices, between the present-day orbits of Mars and Jupiter
-
The most metal rich terrestrial planet is
Mercury.
-
What are the circumstances under which convection can occur in a substance?
when the substance is strongly heated from underneath 6
-
If a material is highly opaque, then it ...
absorbs most light.
-
The terrestrial planet cores contain mostly metal because
- metals sank to the center during a time when the interiors were molten throughout.
- The core, mantle, and crust of a planet are defined by differences in their composition
-
What are greenhouse gases?
gases that absorb infrared light 78
|
|
